Emotional return for Heat's Oden in preseason win

For the first time in nearly four years, Greg Oden appeared in an NBA game, when the hulking center checked in with 5:15 to play in the second quarter of Wednesday night's 108-95 exhibition victory over New Orleans Pelicans at New Orleans Arena.

"It's been a long time," Oden exulted in the locker room afterward. "It's been a long road for me, just to get that off my back, my first step tonight."

Teammates were even more emotional.

"It was a very special moment," forward LeBron James said. "I have no idea what my feelings would be like being away from the game for three years, and it was a proud moment. I was so excited for him when he got on the court and checked in.

"I might have to toast this for him. I ain't no drinker, but I might have to take a shot for him."

Signed in the offseason to a one-year, veteran-minimum free-agent contract, the appearance ended years of questions of whether the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft ever would make it all the way back from a series of knee microfracture surgeries.

Licking his fingers upon entering, Oden dunked on his first and only attempt, altered a pair of shots, missed a pair of free throws, grabbed two rebounds, committed two turnovers, was called for two fouls and then exited for good with 1:16 to play before halftime.

"His first basket is a dunk; can you write it any better?" James said."Obviously he's not where he wants to be, but the process is going great. I was extremely happy for him. I'm so happy for him. It's like a big brother seeing his little brother succeed again. It was great."

It was Oden's first action since Dec. 5, 2009 with the Portland Trail Blazers, his first action in 1,418 days.

"I'm happy I'm able to walk off this court and I'm able to play another day," he said.

During a timeout during his lone stint, Oden, 25, went to the bench with a wide grin, sharing a hand slap with Heat forward Shane Battier, taking a chest punch from teammate Michael Beasley.

"As a teammate and a friend it was tremendous to see him out there," Battier.

Oden played alongside Heat starting center Chris Bosh, creating the possibility of more time this season for Bosh back in his previous role at power forward. Udonis Haslem opened at power forward Wednesday, with Bosh again starting at center.

It was Bosh who fed Oden for the dunk.

"It was just a read," Bosh said. "He's a big target out there. I told him to be ready."

The Heat won despite falling behind by 15 points to an opponent that entered 6-0 in the preseason. James led the way with 27 points in 29 minutes, supported by 25 points from Dwyane Wade and 14 from Bosh.

Beyond Oden, the Heat got strong efforts off the bench from Chris Andersen and Ray Allen, looking like a team ready for Tuesday's regular-season opener against the visiting Chicago Bulls.

Spoelstra was unusually coy during the morning shootaround about where Oden stood, leading to a somewhat awkward exchange.

But he then saw the opportunity to spot Oden for those brief minutes.

"We're just so pleased for him," Spoelstra said. "His face lit up when I told him I was going to put him in the game. He was prepared for it. He was making steady progress. It's just great to see him do something he loves to do but was taken away from him for four years."

Still, Spoelstra also again preached perspective, with Oden's left knee stiffening after recent work in a five-on-five scrimmage.

"He's been putting in a lot of work, been making progress each week, and that's how we've been gauging it," Spoelstra said. "But we still want to temper expectations. This will still be big picture, long term, that we're looking at."

It was nonetheless encouraging, and uplifting.

"He has size and mobility. He's an athlete," Spoelstra said. "He can really move for a player of that size. He also has picked up a lot of what we do, in such a short period of time. Add weeks and months to that, because of his IQ, I think he'll pick up things well."

Oden said it meant more than the mere minutes.

"Four minutes, it's enough for me," he said. "As long as I got out there and I walked off and I'm healthy, that's all that matters."

Of getting up to speed, he said, "I mean, it was tough. It was really tough. But the more I'm able to be out there, the more I'm going to be able to give my team."

Oden exited without any sign of discomfort, replaced by Battier after playing his 3 minutes, 59 seconds.

The Heat and Spoelstra have continually attempted to temper expectations with Oden. The return came in front of Heat President Pat Riley, who was in the stands after speaking the previous night in Sioux Falls, S.D., where the Heat's NBA Development team is based.

"It was great," Riley said afterward. "It was wonderful."

Oden approached the game as if he again would sit, taking extra conditioning with strength coach Bill Foran prior to tipoff.

"Next step for me is coming in tomorrow and making sure everything is taken care of with my legs and making sure it gets back to where it feels good," Oden said. "And then I'll be out there another game."

For now, he's savoring a moment that was years in the making.

"I definitely felt the love," Oden said of the postgame locker-room celebration. "I'm excited they were there for me, and I could be there for them."